For multiple myeloma patients, treatment history and personal predisposition have been identified as two key factors that may predict if a patient treated with Velcade (bortezomib) or thalidomide (Thalomid) will develop tingling and pain from nerve damage in their limbs.

Thalidomide and Velcade are among the many myeloma treatments that are neurotoxic, which means that they cause damage to the body’s nervous system. As a result, multiple myeloma patients commonly experience tingling and pain from nerve damage in…

In a study recently published in the journal Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia, researchers determined that continuous treatment with cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) and prednisone at low doses is effective and manageable in multiple myeloma patients who cannot tolerate conventional chemotherapy.

When myeloma patients are unresponsive to treatment or experience relapse, doctors implement their plan B, known generally as salvage therapy. Most salvage therapies consist of the same treatment drugs at an increased dosage or a combination treatment of the…

A new study indicates that a short-course treatment with Kepivance (palifermin) prior to high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation may be sufficient to decrease mouth ulcers and the supportive care required by multiple myeloma patients after a stem cell transplant.

In multiple myeloma patients under the age of 65, high-dose chemotherapy followed by an autologous stem cell transplant is the preferred and most effective treatment option. However, the high dose of chemotherapy often causes severe side effects such as oral…

As survival increases among multiple myeloma patients and as detection methods improve, a higher rate of plasma cell tumors are being detected outside the bone marrow of these patients, a new study published in the Annals of Oncology suggests. The authors also concluded that the increase is not caused by high-dose therapy or novel therapeutic agents.

Non-marrow tumors, also known as extramedullary disease, occur when plasma cell tumors develop outside of the bone marrow in soft tissue or organs.

Coinciding…

A combination therapy of weekly Velcade (bortezomib), Doxil (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin), and dexamethasone (Decadron) led to a high response rate and moderate side effects in elderly patients with relapsed or refractory myeloma, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia.

Previous studies have shown a complementary, additive relationship between Velcade and other drugs, such as Doxil and dexamethasone. However, a three-fold combination has never been evaluated in patients over the age of…